The present invention relates to sports training apparatuses for facilitating the teaching of kicking mechanics. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sports training apparatus configured to interchangeably receive a variety of sports balls and facilitate the kicking thereof, and including a means to adjust a sports ball in a desired position and automatically return and suspend the sports ball in a ready position after being kicked.
Athletic training often requires an athlete to perform repetitive tasks directed towards mastering a movement, increasing skill, and improving performance. In sports that use a ball, at least some of the repetitive tasks include striking the ball with a part of the body such as a foot or a piece of equipment such as a bat or a hockey stick. Traditionally, this type of practice requires the use of multiple balls in succession, otherwise the training becomes inefficient as each time a ball is struck it must be recovered before it can be struck again.
Many different solutions have been utilized in an attempt to solve this problem, such as using nets to capture balls that have been kicked, hit, or otherwise struck to prevent them from traveling too far from the user. Though an improvement, it is still necessary for the user to collect and reset the ball in place before the ball can be struck again. Another solution involves the use of practice balls that are designed to limit their flight through the air after being struck. A drawback of these types of practice balls is that they commonly do not completely simulate the effects of striking a normal ball and as a result provide limited feedback. Yet another solution involves attaching a tether to a normal ball so that ball flight can be limited to the distance of the tether. Although more effective than using a practice ball, a drawback of using a tether with a ball such as a soccer ball or a football is that the ball must still be recovered and placed back into a position so that it may be kicked again. This increases the time between each kick, which decreases the efficiency of the device. Other systems utilize a tether and attempt to automatically reset the ball back into its original position before being kicked or struck. These systems provide somewhat more efficiency but still suffer from drawbacks. For example, in this type of system the ball is returned to its originating location as a result of gravity. The user may still have to wait before striking the ball again due to excessive oscillation of the ball. Moreover, all of these system do not include a means for adjusting the device to accommodate both left and right footed individuals.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a sports training apparatus configured to suspend a sports ball in a ready position for either left-footed or right-footed kicking and return the ball to the ready position after being kicked, thereby eliminating the need for retrieval of a kicked ball and the prolonged waiting period required for settling of a kicked ball into a ready position.
In light of known sports training apparatuses, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to sports training apparatuses. In this regard, the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.